Israel Prepares for Passover and Good Friday

ICEJ News Briefs

Israelis on Thursday were making last-minute preparations to celebrate the Biblical Feast of Pesach (Passover) which begins on Friday evening with the traditional Seder meal and continues for a week during which only unleavened bread (matza) is eaten. Israel’s Christian communities were also preparing to mark “Good Friday” the traditional day on which Jesus was crucified, followed by “Resurrection Sunday” to commemorate His rising from the dead.

Today's Videos give a look at the Biblical Festival of Passover in Israel

Netanyahu Formally Invited to Form Government

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin issued the formal invitation to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a governing coalition for the 21st Knesset at a ceremony at the President’s residence Wednesday evening, starting a process of negotiations which has a time limit of six weeks. “There is no bigger honor in a democracy,” Netanyahu said. “I am just as excited as the first time, if not more.” Rivlin said he hopes Netanyahu will form a “large and stable government that will reflect the will of the nation as much as possible.”

Also on Wednesday, TIME magazine published an article naming Netanyahu as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Israeli Air Force Practicing Missile Defence

Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) released a statement on Wednesday declaring that the Air Force had sucesfully carried out a series of tests of the air defense systems, which had included a large number of interceptions of live rockets fired at test ranges in the Negev. “Nowhere else in the world do you fire so many live missiles in one night during a drill,” the senior officer said. “We are challenging ourselves. Our enemy is learning, and is definitely getting better and is getting more challenging… but so are we.”

Iranian President Attempts to Reassure Regional Neighbors

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced Thursday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, recently designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, will never be used against Iran’s Sunni neighbours but only against "Zionists" and "American imperialists" insisting that "I want to tell the regional countries that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not against you and your national interests. They stand against invaders." Initial reactions from regional governments indicated they weren’t taking Rouhani’s words very seriously.

Israel Blesses the World

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Wednesday that a 3D printing facility utilizing Israeli technology has been built in the West African country of Cameroon, with the assistance of the Israel-based company SELA Educational Initiatives Limited. The new facility was built at the Polytechnic National Advanced School of Engineering in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé, and is the first of it’s kind on the African continent. Cameroon's Education Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo thanked Israel and praised "the product of its ingenuity known since ancient times."